In the weeks to come, the crowded dormitory was a blessing. The women on camp met there regularly. Scriptures were read. Hymns were sung. Betsy and Corrie couldn’t understand why guards never closed it down. One day, Betsy asked a guard to come into the hut on another matter. She refused. Why? Because the hut was riddled with fleas. What are the fleas for you? What is the thing you are desperate to get rid of?

“Betsie, how can we live in such a place?”
That was the question Corrie ten Boom asked her sister as they arrived in their dormitory at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. The moment they walked through the door their noses were overwhelmed by the stench of soiled bedding.
They climbed into a bunk bed for the two of them. It was then Corrie felt the first nip on her leg. The straw on the bed was swarming with fleas. No wonder Corrie asked how can she was meant to live in this way.
Perhaps you have asked that same question in a different form. “How can I live like this?”
Maybe the money is running out. Maybe a relationship has fallen apart. Maybe you have to care for someone in the depths of suffering. You wonder “How can I go on?”
Well let’s return to Corrie and Betsy. If they could survive Ravensbrück, maybe there’s hope for you and I too.
Betsy encouraged Corrie to open the Bible they had managed to smuggle in. You see Betsy and Corrie were Dutch Christians who had risked everything to keep Jews safe. One of the small blessings was this small Bible which they read every day.
The Bible reading for the day was from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18:
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
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This is not a pragmatic book. Anyone looking for hints and tips should look elsewhere. This is a gospel-centred look at persevering amidst the challenges of rural ministry, not a how-to guide. I believe that makes it more, not less, helpful. I’d recommend Pastoring Small Towns for pastors and eldership teams in British rural areas. There would be no doubt important and helpful conversations that arise as a result.

Most books aimed at pastors are written by pastors of megachurches in urban areas. Books based in rural areas are few and far between.
Pastoring Small Towns by Ronnie Martin and Donnie Griggs bucks that trend.
This practical and encouraging book offers biblical insights and personal stories for pastors who serve in villages and small towns.
Martin and Griggs are both experienced pastors who have planted and led churches in Ohio and North Carolina, respectively. They share their joys and challenges as they seek to shepherd God’s people in places that are often overlooked or neglected by the wider culture and church.
Overview
The book is organized into 10 chapters, each reflecting on a key aspect of pastoring small towns. Below is a key takeaway from each chapter:
1. Love
A pastor does not love his church because of how lovable the church is, but because of how much the members are loved by Jesus. This love must be at the heart of Christian ministry:

“Jesus doesn’t want us to lead and teach his sheep but to care for them.”

2. Compassion
This chapter begins with the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus and the disciples had intended to have a time of rest but were pursued by the crowds. Nevertheless, we’re told Jesus had compassion on them. While rest is important as a pastor, compassion for the crowds will necessarily result in going the extra mile.
3. Patience
There is a slower pace of change in rural areas, both culturally and within the church. Though rural pastors frequently lament this, Martin sees this as a positive:

“The slowness of patience leads us toward treating our people less like projects that need to be completed and more like people who need the completeness of Jesus to provide them with wholeness.”

4. Courage
Up to this point, the picture of ministry has been quite positive, but chapter four comes as quite the reality check. Most pastors will sympathise with Grigg’s picture of ministry:

“When you lie down at night, it may not be a sore back that keeps you from resting but a heavy soul and a worry-filled mind”.

He notes two enemies that will require courage to confront:
·         Wolves: People within the church who cause division
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She was a woman in constant demand. Pastors from the US praised her for her importance to Spurgeon’s church. Women from across the world wrote to her for advice in their own endeavours. Even in semi-retirement, men begged her to speak to women at their churches.

The streets of London were at a standstill.
Thousands crowded the streets to say goodbye to a dearly loved teacher. The Metropolitan Tabernacle was too full to hold the mourners.
Charles Spurgeon the following Sunday said this: “I have this day lost from my side one of the most faithful fervent, and efficient of my helpers, and the Church has lost one of her most useful members.”
Who was this faithful helper?
Mrs. Lavinia Strickland Bartlett.
Who was Lavinia? And what made her such a valued fellow servant of the great Charles Spurgeon?
Frequently, in history women’s stories remain untold. But such was her fame that Lavinia’s story was recorded by her son Edward H. Bartlett. It’s hard to find today but in this article I will give a quick overview of her life.
So set aside a few minutes to read a brief summary of her amazing story and what we can learn from her life.

Even at an early age, Lavinia showed the heart of an evangelist.

She read hymns to her her younger brothers before bed.
In her teens, she taught the “preaching, praying class” at Sunday school.
She even set up a school for girls.

But in her town, she was best known as “the praying girl.”
Their local parson failed to care for his flock. So for a time, a dissenting deacon “Pattern Wade” was called to death beds to support those in need.
However, eventually Pattern Wade was called home. He was soon replaced by Lavinia. Her son describes how she prayed with “harlots, poachers, burglars and prizefighters…at all hours of the day and night.” She walked miles and miles to visit those in need.
One story demonstrates her character. In the town was a horse breaker, the father of one of the members of her Sunday School. He was opposed to Christianity and boasted that he’d entered church twice in his life: when his mother took him to be Christened and when his wife took him to be married.
On his death bed, he refused to see any clergyman, even shouting them out of the house. A butcher friend encouraged him to see “the praying girl.”
Lavinia arrived and gave “a simple appeal to the love of Christ”. Amazingly, the man was soon in tears. He trusted Jesus and was soon ushered into eternal life.
The Praying Mother

But as a result of this, the “praying girl” became the “praying mother”. She devoted herself to her sons. Their father died when the boys were teenagers but she took upon herself to raise them in the Lord.
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